Leandro Nazario, Operating a Heroin Mill, Pennsylvania 2018

HARRISBURG, PA – A Lebanon man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for operating a heroin mill in Lebanon County.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Leandro Nazario, 39, was sentenced on April 2, 2018, to 20 years’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones, III, for conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine in Lebanon County.

The two-year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lebanon County Drug Task Force culminated with the execution of search warrants at 513 Arnold Street and 443 North 6th Street, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 2015.

During the search at 513 Arnold Street, law enforcement agents discovered a ‘heroin mill’ where kilograms of heroin were being processed on a weekly basis.

The investigation revealed that Julio Aviles, Sr., a previously convicted drug dealer, owned and operated the heroin mill and employed a network of sellers, packagers, brokers, and testers to conduct this illegal enterprise.

Nazario, formerly of Puerto Rico, was the second-in-command of the drug trafficking organization and was the foreman of the processing mill. All together 13 individuals were charged. Packagers were paid approximately $500 a week like factory workers to process and package the heroin for later distribution.

Law enforcement agents found over 400 grams of heroin, over 85 grams of cocaine powder, and over 71 grams of crack cocaine at the time of the searches. A kilogram of heroin, which weighs approximately 2.2 pounds, is equivalent to approximately 40,000 to 50,000 individual doses of heroin, any one of which can be fatal depending on its purity and the nature of its other ingredients.

The investigation also revealed that the drug trafficking organization was mixing the heroin with Fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone, and Lidocaine. Law enforcement agents estimated that this drug operation was distributing heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine for a two-year period and during the last few months was distributing kilogram quantities of heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine powder.

The value of the drugs distributed has a conservative street value of between $3 million and $5 million. Law enforcement also located three handguns, ten rifles, six shotguns, and paraphernalia consistent with a large-scale drug trafficking operation.

The individual defendants previously convicted include Israel Nazario, who was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment; Julio Aviles, Sr., who is awaiting sentencing; and Michael Millan-Miranda, who is also awaiting sentencing.

The individual defendants who previously pleaded guilty include Eliezer Soto-Concepcion, who was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment; Suheidy Soto-Concepcion, who was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment; Julio Aviles, Jr., who was sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment; Brenda Soto, who was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day imprisonment; Geidy Arroyo, who was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release; Brittany Rivera, who is awaiting sentencing; Brent Moyer, who is awaiting sentencing; and Carlos Nazario, who is also awaiting sentencing.

Kengie Millan-Miranda remains a fugitive. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Kengie Millan-Miranda, please contact law enforcement.

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